The Rose Smart Easel comes from the stables of the Rose Art Company, a well-known name in children’s art supplies. Made of light and resistant metal, this easel is ideal for traveling and strolling in the park. Designed with portability in mind, this easel is easy to put together and, better yet, easy to take apart, and it has a carry and storage bag to take it wherever you go.
This affordable, durable easel comes with a dry-erase board on one side and a 50-foot roll of art paper and eight markers that are non-toxic and washable. This product is recommended for children over 4 years of age. I would personally recommend it for older children who are more interested in painting and drawing. For younger children, magnetic easels would be a better option.
This easel includes a small plastic tray at the bottom of the dry erase board, which is perfect for storing small cans of paint, wet brushes, glue or glitter. Two flaps are attached to the sides of the easel, with mesh pockets and sleeves to hold all the art supplies your child would need. It is also placed in such a way that everything the child needs is within easy reach and this definitely encourages order. A large bottom tray, made of fabric, serves as a catch-all for finished works of art.
Kids love the way the paper roll conveniently ties to the top of the easel, allowing them to roll out more paper for the next masterpiece. The entire easel (except the frame) is made of washable materials. Should the easel get dirty or paint spilled, the fabric parts can be detached and thrown in the washing machine while the plastic parts can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.
Now, some concerns or disadvantages of this easel:
1. The dry erase board comes in two separate pieces. This makes the process of drawing or painting in between quite impossible. But the kids don’t seem to mind so it’s not really a problem.
2. Most children’s easels on the market follow a standard paper dimension of 18 inches or so. But this easel has a 17-inch configuration and finding replacement paper rolls becomes a chore. Not many online stores have this dimension and finding one becomes extremely frustrating.
3. Assembly instructions are presented graphically without text accompanying the images. The images themselves are not entirely intuitive. It took me some time to figure it all out and put it together. But the process was quick and easy.
4. The pocket under the easel is much shallower than the pictures on online stores indicate. So not many of the children’s drawings can go there. Again, not a major problem, you can use some other container to hold them.
Overall, this inexpensive and durable easel with its easy-to-clean, lightweight, and portable design can be a good starting easel for kids.
